Vignettes of a Master

by Luke, Jason

  “Vignettes Of A Master”

  Jason Luke

  Copyright © 2014 Jason Luke

  The right of Jason Luke to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any other means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  Introduction:

  Vignette?

  What the hell is a vignette?

  It’s a strange word – one most people are unfamiliar with. A dictionary definition describes the word as… ‘a brief evocative description, account, or episode.’

  So, although the word is kind of weird, it’s actually a pretty accurate one, because what you are about to read is a collection of short scenes that I wrote live during a World Facebook Tour conducted over recent months.

  For several weeks I appeared on Facebook pages from around the globe and wrote live scenes based on the suggestions of readers.

  It was a fun, and grueling challenge. Hundreds and hundreds of readers posted brilliant suggestions, asking me to write scenes that used characters from my book, ‘Interview with a Master’.

  Most of the scenes involve Jonah and Leticia, but the other characters in the book also make an appearance… and in several of the scenes I actually appear, interacting with the fictional characters I created!

  At the end of the book are 30 brand new scenes that I wrote after the Tour. These are scenes that no one has read before now.

  And finally, I have included the first dramatic chapter of the sequel to ‘Interview with a Master’. The book is entitled ‘In Love with a Master’. I hope to have the sequel finished and ready for publication within the next couple of months.

  I need to extend my sincere thanks to every single Facebook page that hosted me during the World Tour. Without their generous support, I would never have had a platform to create these paragraphs and introduce my characters to so many new readers.

  I hope you enjoy these paragraphs for what they are – snap-shot scenes written live as the ideas were presented to me. These paragraphs were not written as excerpts from the upcoming sequel. They are stand-alone scenes that have a life of their own, and are not part of any future book.

  Enjoy!

  Jason Luke, May 2014.

  https://www.facebook.com/JasonLukeAuthor

  Reviews from host pages:

  This was an innovative way to show this community of readers the talents of Jason Luke. The experience was unique and the readers were very enthusiastic with their suggestions and in responding to what was written. We were thrilled to be a part of this opportunity.

  ~ A Literary Perusal

  It was an awesome experience that left fans in awe of what Jason does. He is an incredible writer and we were so happy to be able to work with him.

  ~Book Boyfriend Reviews

  Thank you, it was a captivating night that was capped off with Popsicles and Porn.

  ~Rude Girl Book Blog

  This was such an amazing and unique thing that Jason did. Watching him write live, seeing the amazing work he created after a simple suggestion was incredible! I hope he does this again with his next book!

  ~Two Sassy Chicks

  We had such an amazing time the night Jason Luke spent an hour with us. The interaction with his fans was just fantastic. His quick wit and incredible way with words just blew us away. The night was filled with laughs, sighs, gasps and the intense desire for more.

  ~Literati Book Reviews

  Jason is the king of sensual creativity and the master of building exceptional anticipation. While all the suggestions posted were fun and creative, he may not have always picked the 'obvious' choice...but whatever his selection; the result always left us breathless and desperate for more.

  ~ True Story Book Blog

  Jason Luke is an incredibly TALENTED and passionate writer. I've never known an author to be able to write with the thoughtfulness he does, on command.

  ~ Flirty and Dirty Book Blog

  It was our pleasure to host Jason with his truly original live writing tour. It was a really busy evening on our page and hugely popular with our followers and everyone enjoyed reading the paragraphs as they went live.

  ~Sinfully Sexy Book Reviews

  Having Jason on the page was amazing. He was prompt and very professional and on top of things. His paragraphs were amazing and I thank him very much for coming to my page and sharing with us and just being awesome.

  ~Chicks Controlled by Books

  It was so exciting having Jason Luke write live on our Facebook page. He kept the fans on the edge of their seats waiting to see more. The paragraphs that he came up with in such a short period of time just proved what an amazing and talented author Mr. Luke is!

  ~We Love Kink

  Working with Jason and his team was such an incredible experience, one that will stay with us forever. His ability to write paragraphs flawlessly and in such a short period was remarkable. It was an hour of pure adrenaline watching and waiting to see what his brilliant mind came up with...and he did not disappoint. Jason's writing style is unique and unparalleled.

  ~ Two Crazy Girls with a Passion for Books

  Jason Luke's World Tour was unlike any other Facebook experience I have ever had with an author. The amount of thought and the creative process that was involved in this one hour was absolutely mind-blowing! What a fantastic gift to the readers and what a wonderful way to create new fans of ‘Interview with a Master’. Bravo, Jason!

  ~Book Bellas

  The ‘Interview with a Master’ Live World Tour was the fastest hour I have ever experienced. The honor of getting to watch Jason Luke create amazing, heartfelt and beautiful paragraphs in 5-10 minutes was truly a moment I won't soon forget. I can't wait to see what he does next!

  ~The Blushing Reader

  Interacting with readers during the Facebook live tour, Jason Luke proved what a talented and creative writer he is. This experience provided readers a unique opportunity to interact with him.

  ~Seductive Romance

  Jason Luke’s writing was fantastic! For him to come up with such sexual, moving and erotic paragraphs in such a short time was literally breath taking. We as a page were excited to be part of this world wide live writing tour; we can see his name going so far in the future.

  ~Two Ordinary Girls and Their Books

  Interview with a Master was intriguing and extremely different from anything I'd read. Jason Luke's World Tour was unique and I found the way he engaged with his readers was not just professional, but remarkable.

  ~Kelsey’s Korner Blog

  It was such a rush for me to be able to participate in Jason Luke's World Tour. The turnout was amazing! I am in complete awe at his talent. It's incredible how he can write so eloquently while under pressure. It was a pleasure to take part!!!

  ~In Stefter’s Humble Opinion

  We were honored to kick off the Jason Luke World Tour. We already knew the man could write, but seeing him come up with these paragraphs on the fly was truly an experience we will never forget. Thank you!

  ~Rebel Book Chicks

  Rebel Book Chicks

  March, 17th.
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br />   Jonah and Leticia in his training room.

  We walked through the door into the training room, and I stood back and let Leticia enter first. Her step was cautious, as though she was unsure what to expect. I leaned inside the open doorway and watched her until she reached the middle of the room.

  "You've been in here before, and yet you seem nervous."

  Leticia spun on her heel to face me. There was a hectic little flush of color on her cheeks. She nodded and her eyes swept the room then came back to me. "When I was here before it was as a journalist. Now I'm here as something quite different - aren't I?”

  I nodded. "Yes. Tonight you are here as a woman. A very sexy woman, in fact. A sexy, sensual woman who is about to embark on a journey of self discovery."

  Leticia smiled. "With your help..."

  "Oh, yes," I smiled wolfishly. "And I'm a very hands-on kind of guide."

  Rebel Book Chicks

  March, 17th.

  Leticia and Jonah when he finds out his tumor is shrinking, at the doctor's office.

  I've said it before, and I'll say it again now - I don't like surprises.

  I have an ordered world - an ordered life - and to me, an unexpected surprise means I haven't anticipated and planned for the eventuality.

  Generally, I guess people would call me a pessimist - I tend to expect the worst outcome. It means I am rarely disappointed.

  Even pleasant surprises tend to annoy me.

  But there are those rare moments... those moments when life can get turned on its head by a few words or a gesture. They are the times that confound me, and the times that I am reminded that not even Jonah Noble has all the answers or knows all that God has laid out.

  We call it fate.

  I've always believed that a man's life can be defined by a few rare moments: the moment he meets the love of his life, the instant the world hands him an opportunity that must be seized or lost forever.

  This was one of those moments.

  "Your tumor is shrinking," the doctor said.

  Rebel Book Chicks

  March, 17th.

  Jonah watching Caroline move out.

  I felt it in my chest: a steel band that wrapped tight and threatened to squeeze the blood from my heart. Caroline was standing beside her car, twenty feet away – but it might as well have been a mile. I stared at her with dark vacant eyes, overcome with a sense of desolation, yet unable to do the one thing that would heal the pain.

  Unable to call her back.

  She stood, silent and somehow broken, under the shade of the big tree. Fall leaves drifted down across the driveway. Overhead weak pale light was filtering though the canopy of shade in tiny winking lights. I felt the scald of unshed tears at the corners of my eyes. We locked eyes, and there was a silent desperate plea in her expression, and the pain in my chest came welling up, rising to the surface so that I had to step back inside the door, into the darkened recess where she couldn’t see the anguish… the heartache…

  The doubt.

  Rebel Book Chicks

  March, 17th.

  Trigg admits she has feelings for Jonah.

  “Jonah, are you blind?” Trigg raged, and there was passion and emotion in her voice like I had never heard before. “Can’t you see what is right in front of you? I love you, Jonah. I always have!”

  Perhaps she was expecting me to be shocked. Perhaps she was expecting some gesture of surprise. She got neither.

  “I know,” I said simply.

  “You know?” Trigg’s passion seemed to boil behind her eyes. Her face became flushed and her features distorted. Tears spilled down her cheeks and she cuffed them away with the back of her hand. “You knew I loved you, and yet you did nothing?” She shook her head in bewilderment. “Why, Jonah? Why not me? Why can’t you love and want me? Why?”

  She began to sob. She bowed her head, crumpling as she leaned against the kitchen counter to support her weight. “Am I not young enough for you? Am I not pretty enough?” She tore at the buttons of her blouse and the soft silky fabric gaped open to reveal the lace cups of her bra. She was panting. “I’m a woman, Jonah, and I love you so desperately.”

  I shook my head, my eyes hard, like little shards of coal. “You’re my doctor, Trigg,” I said. “And that’s all you ever could be.”

  Blushing Book Blog

  March, 17th.

  Jonah and Leticia in a lingerie store.

  “No,” I said simply. “That’s not right for you.”

  Leticia stood before me in the secluded alcove of the lingerie store, wearing a flimsy red bra, and matching panties. The fabric clung tight against the honey brown of her skin, hugging and accentuating the curves of her body so that she stood, like a goddess. She shook her head in confusion, and the tendrils of her hair caught and glowed golden in the overhead lights.

  “Lingerie is a visual stimulation for the man who is your lover, but it is also an important expression of yourself,” I said to Leticia as I stepped closer to her. I reached out and ran the tip of my finger across the swelling flesh that rose above the cup of her bra. “This looks sexual, and any man would be delighted to see you standing before him in such attire… but is it really you, Leticia?” I shook my head slowly. “I think not. You need to wear something that is softer, less bright. You need to wear lingerie that reflects your own sensuality. Maybe soft blue, or pale grey would be better – it’s more subtle.”

  I stood back and ran my eyes over her again. She seemed to shrink under the cold calculation of my gaze. “And the panties are all wrong,” I said. “Remember that a lover’s first kiss between your parted, open thighs should be through the fabric of your lingerie. You need fabric that is softer, less covered in lace. You want his mouth to linger there… linger so that you can feel the warm heat of his breath through the silk and the soft tingle of it as his mouth covers your sex.”

  Blushing Book Blog

  March, 17th.

  Jonah and Leticia after the article is finished and both have read it. They are in the living room.

  I folded the newspaper carefully and set it down on the coffee table. I looked up at Leticia. She was sitting across from me, perched on the edge of her chair. Her eyes were alight and bright with eager excitement. She saw my face, saw the cold look in my eyes, and she blinked, then frowned.

  “You didn’t like it?” she asked softly, and her tone was desolate, her voice hollow.

  I shook my head. “I liked your writing,” I said. “I think you told my story well. What I read was an honest recording of everything I said and believe. Thank you for that.” The words were stiff and forced, my voice brittle.

  “But you didn’t like it…?”

  “I don’t like me,” I said. I stood up and stuffed my hands deep within the pockets of my pants. I began to pace the floor, staring off into the distance, my mind playing back over excerpts. “What you wrote was an honest reflection,” I began again carefully, “but the fact is that after reading your article, I have come to the conclusion that Jonah Noble is an asshole!”

  Leticia almost laughed. I saw the flash of surprise, the sudden relief, and the start of a smile. She sat back, and the glow of happiness and pride returned to her expression.

  Blushing Book Blog

  March, 17th.

  Leticia and Jonah on a balcony, as she recalls his previous story about being on a balcony.

  The view was breath taking. I stood in the darkened hotel room and looked out through the open glass doors. I had never seen a sight so lovely.

  Out on the balcony, Leticia was standing, with her legs apart, her hands braced on the steel railing, her back arched so that I could see the soft line of her spine like a row of little pearls just below the honey brown of her skin. She was completely naked, standing in the darkness, staring out at the city lights. There was a soft summer breeze in the night, caressing the skin of her shoulders and tugging at tresses of her hair.

  I stepped out onto the balcony, walked silently until I was standi
ng close behind her and could smell the scent of her perfume and the softer, subtle aroma of her arousal. She sensed me behind her: I felt her straighten her body and shift her weight onto one leg so that one hip thrust forward and the firm rounded flesh of her bottom changed shape, like in invitation.

  I heard Leticia take a sharp, nervous breath and hold it.

  “You’re stunning,” I said softly. “You are truly, totally beautiful.”

  I sensed her smile, and then heard it in her words. It was a wistful, dreamlike sound. “I was just remembering what you did with Caroline on a balcony,” she said softly, perhaps not daring to turn to face me – perhaps still too shy to be so forward with her thoughts, her needs. “I was just wondering how she might have felt.”

  Blushing Book Blog

  March, 17th.

  Jonah watching Leticia sleep.

  In a world gone mad, there was this.

  Simple, pure, innocent beauty.

  I stood in the doorway and watched Leticia sleep. She was laying on her back, her lips slightly parted, her hair awry and her body outlined beneath the single cotton sheet so that I could see the darkened shadow of her nipples, and the defined shape of her long legs. She looked so peaceful – so serene, and I wondered then at how man measures beauty, and how abused the word is. Beauty was everywhere – it was in nature and in giant structures. It was in magnificent buildings and in classical music.